*walks On In, Downs Tea Like A Shot* So Today Because I Am Sleep Deprived And Have No Self Control, I'll

*walks on in, downs tea like a shot* So today because I am sleep deprived and have no self control, I'll be dropping some Zonai Headcanons that will be most likely debunked by Tears of the Kingdom when it comes out and make it y'alls problem:

(Long post down below and it has more likely been debunked by TOTK! I haven't combed through all the lore there yet so fair warning, this was written before release)

The Zonai were likely descended from the Interlopers aka the Twili, but not in the traditional way because the history enthusiast in me is screaming there's inconsistencies and I'm going to find a way to patch them so help me. The Interlopers were the Ancient Twili, a race of sorcerer's who mainly were around Hyrule during the in between period of Skyward Sword and Minish Cap according to Hyrule Encyclopedia, they were sealed away in the Twili Realm by presumably the Zelda of the time, the hero and the Light Spirits for attempting to steal the Triforce, but I don't think they came back after Twilight Princess, at least not right away.

Let me explain, if the Interlopers were a race with their own kingdom or region to live on like the Gerudo, and specially if they were sorcerers, would all of them be onboard with stealing the Triforce? No, because that's not how warfare works and not how people work, they are already sorcerers, they can do magic, break reality in ways never seen before, so why would they need the Triforce? Why would any man, woman or warrior with something to lose support a cause like that when there's more risk than gain? Why would any person risk their entire race facing retaliation if they failed and in turn their siblings, lovers, children being killed even if they could gain unlimited power, presuming the gods didn't punish them first for stealing a power not meant for them? No one with common sense would. We see evidence of this in a Link Between Worlds, the main reason Hilda didn't say anything about stealing the Triforce and why Ravio came to Hyrule, because she kept it in house her plan with Yuuga and Ravio only, why? Because of Ravio's reaction, it's anyone's reaction to a plan like this, it's pure insanity, no one with common sense (and no hubris) would support a plan like this, it would split the kingdom in two: the people who supported the plan (aka Hilda and Yuuga) and the people who didn't (aka Ravio had he actually said something before dipping to Hyrule which would have honestly been more effective/less convoluted if you ask me and the rest of the common Lorulian people, because yes it's a dying world but it's theirs and they wouldn't want to make the situation worse or risk war with another world entirely over the Triforce when having a Triforce already screwed them over due to everyone fighting over it, that's why Lorule's Triforce was destroyed, a hasty and bad decision, but the best one anyone had at the time not to mention the fact Hyrule's and Lorule's Triforce's likely have different virtues). I think that's what happened with the Interlopers, the Twili Ruler at the time wouldn't have wanted to risk their people's safety so they shut down that plan as soon as possible, but it already split the people in two, so what do they do when the traitors and greedy Interlopers go behind their back? Devise a plan of their own to counteract it. Preferably with the people targeted so that they could safeguard their people even after it was enacted.

You know how the Picori Blade was given to a hero before Four before the events of Minish Cap, where it was broken and then reforged into the Four Sword? It was made by the Minish and given away precisely so it could deal with the rampant darkness and monsters running round at the time, acting as a seal which is broken in Minish Cap because Vaati is a power hungry idiot who didn't bother to read the full myth before setting out on a quest for the Triforce (if he did he would also see that the monsters/darkness were sealed by the Picori Blade, NOT just the Triforce, I adore his presentation as a villain but good lord man, read the fine print. When you go on a hubris fueled quest ya gotta know all the lore and you clearly didn't given your surprise when you broke the Picori Blade, redeeming points for realizing the Triforce was on Zelda rather than the chest though, and presentation). It was probably a seal given by the Picori to be used by the Hero of Men because Fi as we know wasn't available, she was used to seal Demise and presumably Sky and Sun took the secret of where she was to their graves or ONLY available if an Incarnation of Demise turned up, hence why we only see it in Ocarina of time and beyond. If Fi isn't available then the Picori Blade is meant to be a substitute to do the job.

So what I speculate is that the greedy Interlopers started controlling what remained of Demise's monsters on the surface with their magic to attack Hyrule in an attempt to steal the Triforce by force with likely a few of their own sorcerers throw in the mix, they probably did it behind the previous Twili Ruler's back because their plan was shut down and, if they were anything like Midna, they would NOT have it (because let's be honest Midna was a strong gal and would do anything for her people if necessary, her love for the light people came later), so they approached the Hero of Men and presumably his Zelda once he got the Picori Blade from the Minish with a plan: the Hero would take care of sealing the monsters with the Picori Blade, while they and the Princess would create the Mirror of Twilight and, with the aid of the Light Spirits due to the traitors creating the Fused Shadows behind their back, would seal themselves with as many of their own fighters and supporters as they could gather inside the Sacred Realm with the traitors to finish them off, which would lead to the Twili we have today before Midna broke the Mirror for good. As a gesture of good will they could have lent some sorcerers and warriors to pledge themselves to the Royal family and more specifically the princess, which would lead to the Sheikah, and the Mirror, in case circumstances ever got drastic again and they'd need to use it to make sure those who didn't want to fight (aka civilians) would be safe and make it so that the Mirror could only be broken by someone with the blood of the Original Twilight Ruler and strong magic (hence why Zant couldn't do it, Midna has both the blood and power, while Zant doesn't) it's a master plan in theory.

Except there's one problem: the remains would likely suffer stigma from the Hylians, much like how Ganon's actions brought stigma to the Gerudo as being liars and thieves, it would explain why later generations would be suspicious of the Sheikah and cull them later on before Ocarina of Time, that's why the Hylian Civil War happened and why by Breath of the Wild Sheikah magic and tech was regarded with suspicion even if it did help 10.000 years ago, it's because of this one event, so the ruler of the Twili likely would have given two more orders after putting someone new in charge: go to the skies like how the Hylians did if needed be (giving rise to the Sky People we see in Minish Cap and their remains in Twilight Princess, plus the structures in the sky and why Zonai structures rise in to the sky), and if for whatever reason things look extremely dire (like say, a civil war and then the rise of a mother blinking Demon King/Warmongering King of Thieves, and then the Twili Crisis which they would most likely get blamed for, and the War of Ages if we want to make Hyrule Warriors the inflection point of the timeline), go to the sea and leave Hyrule entirely (remember, there's other kingdoms outside of Hyrule guys, we see most of them in the Downfall Timeline, the events of Link's Awakening only happen because Legend either attempts to leave or return to Hyrule via boat), return only if peace does.

Look at the placement of Lurelin Village and of most Zonai structures: by the sea, by the ocean, only later on does it fully expand into Faron, Lurelin is also a hidden village and extremely hard to find, what if Lurelin Village isn't only where the Zonai descendants reside, but also their initial settlement back in Hyrule after they thought all was safe and done 10.000 years ago, or heck maybe longer as we don't actually know the time gap between BOTW, the 10.000 years Calamity (I'll call it the Catalyst) and the rest of the Zelda timeline, where they started to use their original and script and name again: the proud Zonai people. Maybe they were like the Vikings, wayfarer people, sorcerer and warrior people by necessity who started out on the shores of Hyrule with a single settlement in case things got bad (because they'd likely be taught some measure of caution and want to stay hidden, or at least have somewhere they could fall on and leave if necessary), and then later on expanded to the rest of Faron and maybe Hyrule's underground, maybe they reclaimed some of their settlements on the skies that only they could access via the portals (which look an awful lot like access points of fast travel) or made it so that in times of crisis their structures would rise up, but then Catalyst and later on the Hylian Royalty finished the remnants off before they could be fully done, with the Sheikah doing the actual deed and painting them in a 'barbarian' and 'savage' light, leaving only those who could escape to Lurelin left and their magical ways to die out if most of the people sent there or who escaped couldn't do magic or weren't taught yet (or maybe they went specifically after the magic users). You can't tell me Ganon 10.000 years ago would leave such a blatant threat to his plans alone, specially if they wouldn't join him (NO ONE would want to pull a Zant, out of respect for Midna and The Hero if nothing else, as it's seen the Zonai worshiped the Hero and the Triforce of Courage even above the Triforce of Wisdom/Hylia/The Princess and The Triforce of Power/Demise/Ganon, they would support him whatever way they could, a first as usually the hero doesn't have much support, Zelda had the Sheikah and Ganon has the monsters and now the Yigah, but who did Link have? Who did the Hero have? They HAD to repay the favor he did to the descendant of their original leader and by the lord they'd do it specially if the Hero of Catalyst was one of them like how everyone is speculating even f it killed them, it's speculated that the luminous stones are the remains of their magic used to seal Calamity Ganon or that the energy with the glowing arm is that, maybe they all were sacrificed to Calamity Ganon by monsters to empower him one last time or sacrificed themselves to give the Hero one last boost so he could aid Zelda in doing it and we know this is a thing that can happen in game, see how the Sages we're almost sacrificed plus the hero in the Downfall Timeline, and how Dusk/Twilight Princess Zelda gave up her Triforce and Magic so Midna could live so it's very possible, maybe that's what happened and the stones are the remnants), and the Hylian Royalty has show themselves to be paranoid and very much capable of rewriting history. So between Calamity Ganon and likely their efforts, they were all but exterminated.

The Hylian Royalty made sure to write the Zonai out of history once Zelda was gone, and also made sure to keep the Hero and his origin as vague as possible but leave it implied that he was Hylian to plant themselves as better, I mean the historians before them also did it, no one ever mentions the Hero of Time being Kokiri, or the Hero of Twilight Ordonian, so why should they mention that the Hero of Catalyst was Zonai? And the Hyrule Royalty besides usually the Zelda's did as much bad stuff as good stuff and clearly disregarded the other races most of the time (y'all may forget how that one Hylian healer refused to treat Prince Ralis all because he was a Zora in Twilight Princess but I SURE DIDN'T. THAT IS A CHILD! THE ZORA PRINCE AT THAT! THEY WERE BASICALLY RISKING WAR WITH THE ZORA BY LETTING HIM DIE IF NOT FOR RENALDO, PEOPLE. I don't have much faith in them for regarding the Zonai with respect as a result, look at their description when we look at the armor related to them: barbarian, savage, those are words usually used when you want to diminish the word of a person, the Celts were called that, the Vikings, indigenous folks too, you get the idea). History is written by the victors and those left to tell the story, and if one side isn't left, what do you get? Details being rewritten or erased (again, looking at real world history: Irish Mythology, Slavic Mythology, the general Celtic cultures around the British Isles, the Aztecs, all of them written out or rewritten in some way that we don't even know what the original myth looks like, we can only speculate, Slavic mythos and culture specially got shafted), so to me that's what happened to the Zonai, the Lurelin people eventually forgot, with no one left to tell the story, only murals that are deep underground and far up in the sky that no one would remember or find until Link (Wild, Slate, Sage, whatever name y'all use or headcanon just BOTW Link in general) and his Zelda (Flora, or whichever name y'all use) eventually find them or if anyone in the Twilight Realm remember and care to tell the history somehow.

Also, since they expanded to Faron, it's very, very possible they met the Ordonian's and they intermarried with them because A: they were the closest people/tribe plus the most similar to them, and B: Geographically it would make sense, explain what happened to the Ordonians, plus also tie in nicely if anyone sees Twilight Princess Link as Breath of the Wild Link's ancestor, which I very much do by the way.

At least that's that from my perspective as someone who reads way too much history, mythology and who has been way too invested in Zelda Lore and the games ever since I was a kid, even if my sleep deprived ramblings likely look like this:

Anyway I'll stop here for today, regular posting content will likely happen later on. I kind of wrote this on mobile motivated only by sleep deprivation and spite and if I don't stop myself now I'll probably write an entire essay on this and I doubt many people would be interested in that.

Here's some MM Adult Link with long hair for y'all

(he's also v grumpy which is how he should always be)

Hylia fans, enjoyers, critics, slanderers, folks who like Linked Universe but are mine's, Legend's and Time's spirit animals in wanting to vibe check a goddess for what she did with them and First, an idea/sleep deprived headcanon for y'all. Just an idea that will be completely obliterated by Tears of the Kingdom but hey I can dream.

Hylia, but she purposefully uses the appearance of each of the Zelda's depending on who she's dealing with, but just a bit... Off, Lullaby, but her head moves like an owl's, too bird like in nature for it to look normal (alluding to her connection to the Loftwings), Dusk, but her lips don't move when she talks, her voice booms like thunder but is as soft as a breeze, Flora, whose words feel scorching like an inferno and sitting near a crackling fire at the same time, just a bit grating but you can't help but be comforted, wanting to get close, wanting to stay close. Artemis, but her eyes are blank, not even how the Light Spirits portrayed the Interlopers in Twilight Princess, straight up no iris or pupils, because 'eyes are the window to the soul' an deities wouldn't leave theirs, if they even have any, open to anyone to use, her looking at you makes it feel as if you have just been flayed open from neck to gut, your organs on display, a bone deep cut of too much knowing, does she know it? Knows your deepest secrets? Your deepest fears and insecurities? The things you would want no one to know? Will she execute you for them or will she accept you for a it?

Just saying, if y'all don't want to go full on monstrous (though if ya ask me monstrous Hylia is PEAK), uncanny valley is always a good idea as any, maybe have her wear a bird mask to 'hide' her identity so that it gets harder to tell, make it so that her voice and speech patterns are all of rh Zelda's melded together. Remember, Hylia's form in the manga was as close to a human as she could make it probably because she didn't want to scare First/The First Hero off (because ya know, deities are basically living concepts, they can have multiple forms and usually looking at their true ones is a bad move, hence why many of them shape shift in myth), Sun/Skyward Sword Zelda is her human vessel, but who's to say after so many years from there some things wouldn't start slipping through the cracks? It's in the subtleties, the very, very subtle differences that tell anyone the Zelda's aren't human, but the vessels or something much bigger than them, something which is always on the edge of time, waiting. Watching.

Also, if we go the Tears of the Kingdom theory route, or a ghost Chain in general, I also proposed Ghost Zelda's, all of them by Flora's side, but she could only really see or talk to them after she unlocked her powers and the differences between them and Hylia is very, very obvious once you start looking at it.

Plus, if we are possibly seeing the 10.000 years ago Zelda, then I propose we just leap and see them all after so long. Or that BOTW Link/Wild also can see the 10.000 years Catalyst Hero, or the rest of the Links and/or dives into their memories for maximum emotional damage, in this essay I will-

Most Lu Time Fans/Enjoyers 🤝 Circe and Calypso from Greek Mythology/The Odyssey

Being very thirsty for older, married men/heroes. Albeit each with very different approaches to it.

Malon 🤝 Penelope

Very capable women who could probably kill a man for their husbands if needed be and who are very ready to support them and believe in them unconditionally.

Time 🤝 Odysseus

Older men and war veterans who had Been Through It and Seen Things, have been screwed over by the Gods Several Times to the Point They Could and Would Fight Them and Win but have better things to use their time on, like making it back home after a longer than expected journey and love their wives (or spouse/spouses if you're an X reader person or ship him with someone else) very, very much, and are fully willing to throw hands on their accounts. Also something of gremlins and canonical little shits even if no one will believe you if you try saying it. Main difference is that one successfully acquired a found family while the other had to kill a small child that could have been part of the arguable found family if not for the Gods who mostly screwed him over in the process to secure his wife and son's safety.

I will not elaborate.

LU thought of the day: Time is a human who grew up in the fairy realm, Hyrule is a fairy who grew up in the human realm. They’re both changelings.